New Drug Czar, New Approach

April 30, 1993

At first glance there may seem cause for skepticism in the naming of Lee P. Brown, a career law enforcement officer, as the Clinton administration's senior official for drug policy.

After all, Bill Clinton the candidate promised to redirect the nation's anti-drug effort toward treatment of addicts and education of young people about the perils of drug use. He rightly noted that the tough-talking, lock-'em-up bluster of the '80s failed to put a dent in the flow of illegal drugs, though it did manage to fill America's jails to overflowing with small-time smugglers, dealers and users.

Clearly it is time to attack the nation's demand for drugs, not just the supply.

And a closer look at Mr. Brown's credentials reveals that the former New York City police commissioner may be just the person to oversee such a shift.

Given the politics of the situation, someone with a strong police background may be the only one who could do it.

For starters, not even the most hawkish drug supply-sider can accuse Brown of being "soft on drugs." Chief Brown locked up his share of pushers as top cop in New York, just as he did in Portland, Houston and Atlanta.

Along the way he no doubt noticed that, despite all the arrests and convictions, the drug scourge got progressively worse in those cities, just as it has in Chicago. Dealing drugs, especially crack cocaine, is so lucrative that wanna-be pushers are waiting in line to take the places of those who are jailed. Besides, savvy dealers are more worried about being shot by competitors than collared by cops.

But while experience has taught Brown the limits of enforcement, it remains to be seen where he will find the resources for additional treatment and education.

The president's $13 billion drug budget for next year-a disappointment because of its continued emphasis on enforcement-cuts the new drug czar's office staff to 25 from 112. Out on the street, treatment programs have dwindled so that only a third of potential clients can be served.

Some funds can be redirected from dubious adventures such as paramilitary attacks on the Andean coca crop, or from Barney Fife raids on people who grow their own marijuana for personal consumption.

Those funds would be more effectively spent, for instance, on parole programs that rehabilitate rather than recycle drug offenders.

Treatment and education programs have helped to greatly reduce cocaine and marijuana use among the middle class. Mr. Brown's challenge is to adapt this stategy to the inner city, where a decade of bust-'em bravado simply hasn't worked.